A Young Woman's Heart

"Class schedule?" Mo Xueyao blinked blankly. "I can't see it there..."

"Oh, I forgot, that piece of paper was already torn up. It's okay, it's okay." Wang Jiale enthusiastically opened the pencil case. "You copied mine, didn't you?"

"Okay... thank you."

Chapter Nine: The Strict Math Teacher

"Huh? Don't you have any paper to write your class schedule on?"

"Paper for writing the timetable?" Mo Xueyao shook her head blankly. "Can't you just tear off a piece of homework paper, write on it, and then stick it on?"

“Hey… that doesn’t look good! Here, I’ll give you one.” Wang Jiale said, taking out a small stack of sticky notes from his pencil case that he used specifically for timetables, and deftly tearing off a sheet to hand to Mo Xueyao.

"Thank you..." Mo Xueyao gave a stiff thank you, carefully taking the note and avoiding touching the other person's hand.

The sticky note seemed to still carry the scent of Wang Jiale.

It smells like lavender.

Mo Xueyao's thoughts drifted off again, and she almost copied the wrong content.

Just as she finished copying the timetable, the school bell rang.

Today is a special day because it's the first day after the National Day holiday, so there will be a morning meeting similar to Monday's, but since it's Friday, we'll be having Friday's classes.

In other words, there are two fewer classes than usual, so school ends earlier.

The first class in the morning is math class.

This is a course that Mo Xueyao is not particularly good at.

Relatively speaking, she is better at humanities subjects...

Soon, a young teacher walked into the classroom as the school bell was about to ring.

She placed her lesson plan on the podium and then looked at the students below.

Although he didn't look very tall, like a high school student, he had an imposing presence that made people feel oppressed, and... a murderous intent.

Perhaps it has something to do with her sharp gaze.

"This is our math teacher, Jingdie. She's super fierce, Xiaoyao, don't mess with her," Wang Jiale explained kindly, though it might just be out of a love for sharing gossip.

After making sure all the students were seated, the math teacher said in a strong, resonant contralto voice, "Alright, now open your math books and turn to page..."

Mo Xueyao was somewhat dazed.

Because this petite teacher has a voice that doesn't match her appearance.

To be honest, if her expression weren't so serious, she would probably be quite cute.

"Today's lesson is about solving linear inequalities in one variable..."

(Note: To recreate the details of that era as accurately as possible, the textbook used here is the old version of the People's Education Press textbook, which differs significantly from the high school textbooks used by contemporary students.)

Because she had previewed the material and the new content for the first year of high school wasn't too difficult, Mo Xueyao easily kept up with the teaching pace, and even felt that the questions were too easy.

She rubbed her head, thinking: Could it be that after the surgery, her body started to develop and her brain became smarter?

That seems quite possible now...

After all, the brain develops along with the body during development, although the degree of development is not very high.

But there will still be some impact.

"Gao Yuan!" In the middle of the lesson, math teacher Jing Die suddenly turned around and threw a piece of chalk, hitting Gao Yuan, who was asleep on the desk, right on the forehead. "Get up!"

The stern voice made people afraid to resist. Gao Yuan, who was still asleep, subconsciously stood up—even though he was still a little groggy.

"Sleeping in the first class? Is it that easy to sleep? Didn't you sleep last night?" Jingdie squinted and walked to Gao Yuan's side. She was even shorter than Gao Yuan, who wasn't particularly tall, but her powerful aura made her appear taller.

"Uh... I didn't sleep much..." Gao Yuan replied earnestly, as if he didn't quite understand the situation.

"Why don't you sleep? You always sleep during math class? Are my classes that boring?"

It wasn't that she was bored, but rather that she had a feeling of apprehension—Mo Xueyao thought to herself.

In other words, this kind of math class really doesn't allow anyone to relax.

"Teacher Jing...you're too fierce..." Gao Yuan muttered in a wronged voice.

"Then you still dare to sleep?"

"This is the body's self-protection mechanism!"

"Do you think you're an ostrich?" Jingdie's stern tone carried a hint of amusement.

Oh, so it was all an act of sternness.

Is it because he is not tall enough that he wants to intimidate the students with his imposing presence?

There's really no need for that.

Mo Xue thought to herself.

After all, Jingdie is quite cute when she smiles.

I guess so...

"Stand and listen to the lecture." Jingdie took a deep breath, her smile vanished, and her expression turned stern again.

Overall, math class was still somewhat depressing.

After a forty-minute lesson, almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Gao Yuan, who had almost fallen asleep while standing, was wide awake after class and immediately ran off to play with other classmates.

It makes one wonder if his sleepy appearance just now was an act.

"Phew, math class is the most painful." Wang Jiale breathed a sigh of relief. "The other teachers are much better. The next Chinese class is taught by the homeroom teacher! It's still quite easy."

"The homeroom teacher?" Mo Xueyao thought of the young teacher in white knee-high socks from that morning, and suddenly wondered, "Huh, there are quite a few young teachers at our school?"

"Well, some of them are new teachers who came with the new principal. This high school didn't have enough teachers before, and now all these new teachers are teaching the first year of high school. Our class is lucky; they're mostly young, new teachers." Wang Jiale suddenly grinned mischievously. "With so many young and pretty teachers, could one of them be having an affair with the principal?"

They've got an affair...

Mo Xueyao's expression froze, but Wang Jiale naturally changed the subject again.

"Speaking of which, our homeroom teacher has really beautiful legs!"

Wait, you should be a girl, right?

Mo Xueyao scrutinized Wang Jiale from head to toe, wondering if those words had come from a girl.

"What's wrong? Do I have words on my face?"

"It's nothing..." She shook her head blankly, as if it were the first time she had ever spoken to a girl.

Come to think of it, this might really be the first time I've had a real conversation with a girl?

After all, girls should behave differently when facing men and women.

"Going to the toilet?" Wang Jiale asked again.

"Didn't you just come from the morning meeting?"

"Just in case, it wouldn't be good if I needed to go to the bathroom during Chinese class later."

Mo Xueyao scratched her head awkwardly; she had never been inside a public women's restroom before...

I felt a little resistant.

"I... I think I should just forget about it now?" She scratched her head, not knowing what reason to give.

Wang Jiale, however, acted quite naturally, simply saying "Oh" before going to find someone else.

"Xiaoxiao, do you want to go to the restroom?"

“Okay,” the girl sitting behind Mo Xueyao replied cheerfully.

She had a cascade of black hair and was the only girl in the class who didn't wear braids.

She wasn't particularly beautiful, but she was pretty and always kept herself clean and tidy. She was as approachable as the older sister next door.

She stood up and followed Wang Jiale out of the classroom, also calling out to another girl who looked very much like her, except that she had braids and a mole between her eyebrows.

These two people look like twins.

This was the first time Mo Xueyao had ever met twins in real life.

Perhaps it's because their individual characteristics are so distinct that they can be recognized at a glance, without causing any trouble.

The back of the classroom was the boys' territory, where they would gather together to chat or play with various gadgets as soon as get out of class ended.

There are still people playing with magnets.

This made Mo Xueyao itchy to do it.

These flat, round little magnets can be played with anywhere there's space. The way to play is to flick them with your fingers and try to "eat" them.

If your magnet is on top, then you've been eaten; if you're on the bottom, then you've been eaten instead.

Once you get the hang of it, you can even apply the principles of magnetism. It's a simple yet fun competitive game full of unexpected twists and turns.

Yes, boys really do love these kinds of competitive games.

Several boys at the back of the classroom squatted and played in the open space, occasionally calling on others to join them.

"Xiaoxue, aren't you going to play?" one boy shouted at another.

For a moment, Mo Xueyao even thought they were calling her name.

Her old friends would sometimes jokingly call her that.

After all, Mo Xueyao's name also contains the character "snow".

But clearly, the person being called out to wasn't Mo Xueyao, but rather the boy sitting at the very end of Mo Xueyao's group who didn't even have a deskmate.

He looked gentle and refined, just like the writer Mo Xueyao had imagined.

Although he was just a high school student, he possessed the qualities of a writer.